


Afterwards, Adam

by jojosiewa



Series: MCYT Short Stories [3]
Category: Minecraft (Video Game), Newscapepro Minecraft Fallout Series
Genre: Drabble, Fallout, Family, Father Figure, Found Family, Gen, Im tired, Nuclear Fallout, Post-Canon, Return, dad????
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-08
Updated: 2019-02-08
Packaged: 2019-10-24 09:34:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,564
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17701856
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jojosiewa/pseuds/jojosiewa
Summary: Cory and Uni are off in the wasteland and Adam misses their dumb asses, goddamnit!





	Afterwards, Adam

The sheets were soft on Adam's bare back as he shut his eyes and urged sleep to come. His dreams had recently been sweet and refreshing rather than the nightmares he usually got. They used to come every night for two hundred years, with their bombs and their gunshots and their shouting fathers and their protests gone wrong; memories, they were. Maybe dipped in some unreal aspects, like floating islands or cat heads, but grounded in reality. His reality.

"Son of a fucking bitch, it's gonna be one of those, huh?" Adam kicked the sheets off and sprawled out on the bed, feeling the heat. It was summer, hot even in the green place, even at night.

"You'd think paradise would be more like paradise," Adam said to no one. Talking to himself had become a habit ever since he had been alone in the wasteland; he still couldn't shake it. It was hard to get used to being around people who cared about him; he never really had that, not even in college when he was protesting by day and fucking by night.

He was restless. Cory and Uni had both been gone for about a month (33 days, he was counting, but he didn't want to believe he was) and it was different in the house. Nick was quiet, Dawn was solemn, Adam himself was sick with worry. They were down to a depressing three, alright. Four if Susan counted.

Adam sometimes had horrible twists in his stomach, and he saw flashes of Cory's face, heard Uni whimper, felt secondary pain. Ever since he was radiated he could sense things like that; danger in the future. Adam was so tempted to run and seek out his lost boys before they got hurt again, but he remembered it was the wasteland, of course they'd be hurt, and they'd get back up again. It was what they asked for, what they wanted.

So he stayed put. And worried. Because he couldn't help it; he was older then all of them and even though Cory had been their leader, Adam was their keeper, their father figure when they had none. Sky was dead, poor Nick, Uni was, well, a dog, and Cory's parents lived and died two hundred years ago. I may be a hell of a bad role model but at least they have someone who cares, Adam thought, I'll be there for them; my own father never was. He felt a tug in his old, poor heart; love for his family. Family, yeah, that's what it was. For once Adam had a real family, and Cory and Uni were his grown kids, out there in the big bad world, leaving their dear father alone with that constant drone of worry.

"Puta madre," Adam cursed, maybe at himself for worrying like he was. "If I keep on thinkin' like this I'm sure to have a nightmare. I'm just askin' for it. Cory's fine, Uni's fine. The kids are fine."

He groaned and covered his face, his scar riddled chest rising and falling as he took deep breaths and tried to coax the good feelings back, the happiness and the laughter and the safety.

For the rest of the night he was restless, tossing and turning and dozing off and waking up until he felt the sun from outside his window shine on his dry, damaged skin.

He glanced at the old clock ticking quietly on his nightstand; a gift from Sky, that poor old fucker. When Cory broke the news Adam had needed a few days to process it; Sky had been a fine one night stand two hundred or so years ago and it was a shock when Adam found him still alive, radiated enough to freeze his physical appearance in time and leave only his eyes a bit fucked up. Adam had the idea of friendship with Sky in his mind; but Sky was dead, nothing they could do about that. Unless Nick pulled through and actually made a potion that worked.

Nick, speak of the devil, was talking downstairs. Loudly; when Adam got past the initial annoyance of Nick's nasally tone he felt warmth in his heart, because it meant Nick was feeling better, returning to normal.

Adam got out of bed and contemplated putting on a shirt at all. It was hot as shit, and Adam figured he could take a dip in the lake to cool off. If his dumbass skin was feeling up to it.

He walked up to his mirror, and looked at himself. He missed the soft light brown skin tone with all its smoothness and health. "Qué puedes hacer, Adán," he mumbled. What can you do, Adam.

He unwrapped the bandages around his left hand and stared at it; the cuts that traced the natural wrinkles on his palm were healing, scabbed over and some even closed, a scar the only reminder of the effects of radiation. That's a first, Adam thought with raised eyebrows. The green place air was doing him some good.

He wrapped his hands back up with new bandages and decided he'd slip on a tank top, for the others' sakes. They didn't want to see a ghoul's body, even if it was less gross than others they'd seen. Some people say Adam got lucky. Skin turned black to match the ash that had fallen around him, dry, easily irritated, easily cracked open; hence his hands. His lips too, fuck, they hurt like a bitch. The weather really wasn't helping.

"Guess I'm not rotting, at least. Man, better give my ghoul brothers a hug if I happen to come across one." He didn't think he would.

He opened his door and the familiar smells of breakfast immediately wafted up to his nose. He smiled, glad they'd be having a meal as a group again. It had been quiet and separate lately.

As Adam walked downstairs, green eyes tired, he heard voices. Music to his ears, he heard a combination of barking and the faint sound of a distinctively British voice, young and enthusiastic. And then a calm male voice, swaying slightly with obvious attraction to a certain swindler.

"Uni, Cory? UNI, CORY!" He raced down the steps and all talking ceased, as everyone in the living room turned their heads. Everyone including his two boys!

Uni came first, bounding towards Adam with that innocent excitement that Adam missed so much. "Adam Adam Adam!!!"

Adam held out his arms and the dog jumped into them. Adam lifted Uni and ran his fingers through his thick fur. "Oh Uni, Uni Uni Uni I'm so glad you're back! You're lighter than before, goddamn wasteland not givin' my favorite mutt any food?" Adam squeezed Uni and then put him down.

"Oh, only mushroom stew, Adam, I'm so glad to be back with Dawn's cooking!" Uni's tail was wagging furiously, and he bounced up and down on his two front paws with perky ears.

"Hey, that's not the only reason we came back."

Cory pushed himself off the counter and walked up to Adam. He was calm, like a leader should be, but tired. Adam hugged him tightly. "Oh, mijo, you're back."

"I missed you guys." Adam heard the faint noise of a camera lens adjusting as Cory shut his eye, or whatever it was; Adam smiled when he heard it.

"Why are you back? Didn't you say life was too boring here?" Adam rested one hand on Cory's cheek, and Cory glanced towards Nick. "I was wrong."

Adam grinned. Oh I'm giving him so much shit later, Adam thought. Ah, young love.

"Missed you, camera face," Nick said, and Cory laughed. "Missed you too, swindler."

"I am not a swindler!!!"

"Breakfast is ready, guys," Dawn said in his familiar calm drone. But Adam noticed a hint of perkiness in the robot's voice that made him smile.

As they gathered at the dinner table and ate, Adam watched his family, together again, happy again. And sure, Cory and Nick needed to work some shit out. No doubt Nick was mad, Adam had heard that poor boy ranting to himself about it, but he was confident that would sort itself out on its own.

"Adam, hey, man. You're crying." He felt Cory's hand on his, and he glanced back up. "Oh fuck, I, I'm sorry guys," he wiped his eyes, which were damp with tears. "I just... I just missed you, Cor. And Uni too, so much. God, sorry, I shouldn't be crying. Fuck."

"Oh come on, Adam, cry it out," Cory wrapped an arm around Adam. "I'm sorry I stressed you out. I shouldn't have left, I just, I just needed some time to find myself and–"

"It's okay, Cory," Adam laughed and wiped his eyes. "It's really okay, I'm just glad you're fuckin' safe."

Cory smiled and Adam smiled back. "I'm sorry I butted heads with you so much bud," Adam admitted. Cory scoffed and replied, "Oh come on. We loved each other through all that, right?"

"Right."

"Come on, let's eat!"

Adam couldn't help but cry a little more, but after that he ate a billion pancakes and probably made his future self fat as hell but he just didn't care at that moment because god fucking damn, he just felt so happy.

For once in his god-forsaken life, he was actually, truly happy.


End file.
